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除極少數國家外，最高法院都是一國憲政的樞機所在，真正是法治的聖地和殿堂。英國比較特殊，它有著近千年的憲政史，但最高法院的歷史卻只有不到10年。13世紀以來，英國的立法、司法權並未明確分離，最高司法權主要由上議院司法委員會行使。該機構由12位有上議院議員身份的常任上訴法官組成，設在英國國內大廈內，主管英格蘭、威爾士、北愛爾蘭的民、刑事終審及蘇格蘭民事案件的終審。上議院司法委員會長期以來深居簡出，極少在公眾視野裡拋頭露面，更是讓公眾對英國司法的透明度大為詬病，該委員會本身也被媒體斥為“深藏在威斯敏斯特宮悠長的走廊裡。”
按照傳統的憲政觀，三權分立，天經地義，這種權力的混同，自然容易導致司法不公。除英國外，立法、司法權混在一起的憲政民主國家，再也找不到第二個。2003年6月，布萊爾政府正式提出在英國設立高等法院的動議，走出“司法獨立”的第一步。
#Give mayors more power over the courts and police#
In the past decade crime has fallen and the public feel safer, yet all is not well with our justice system. With rising delays and many more lengthy and expensive trials, victims bemoan how this cumbersome, impersonal system treats them.
Our violent, drug-ridden prisons are full to capacity, but courts keep using custody because magistrates have little faith in community sentences. Repeat offenders go in and out of the courts and jails at huge cost to taxpayers. With public finances tight, we need a fundamental reappraisal of how the system operates.
The problems are structural, not cultural. Our justice system is highly centralized compared with Germany or Canada, yet is no cheaper. National agencies struggle to innovate, and digital “transformation” is always years away. Top-down direction cannot fix these problems, which is why a report by the GovernUp think tank this week suggests a remedy: justice devolution.
To tackle high reoffending rates we need a shift in power to the local level. This is where the solutions will be found to cut costs and improve services – not in Whitehall. If we devolved power to local bodies such as elected mayors or police and crime commissioners (PCCs), they would shift investment to prevention, rather than just manage failure.
As a first step the government should give local areas responsibility for youth justice, as the Taylor review recommends, and scrap the Youth Justice Board. Then PCCs and mayors should get new powers to pilot specialist courts, set fine rates and oversee probation and the crown prosecution services (CPS).
Local accountability should apply everywhere and to all parts of the system – not just to the police, or only in cities with elected mayors, and there should be no more splendid isolation for the CPS. Our
prosecutors should respond to local priorities – just like the police – and these might vary across the country, just as crime rates do. Responsiveness and accountability matter more than consistency.
- 詞彙短語
prosecutor 檢察官；公訴人
plaintiff 原告
defendant 被告
judge 法官
jury 陪審團
court 法庭
solicitor 事務律師
barrister 出庭律師
custody 羈押
fine 罰金
probation 緩刑
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